After all
by LolaBlackx
Summary: For all you Mellitz lovers out there!
1. Chapter 1

Mellie wakes up to an empty bed. She turns to his side, half expecting to touch his warm body. Disappointment settles in. It's not that they don't have a sex life. They do. She's well aware that he now does this as a duty and not out of love and because she loves him, she takes scraps. As long as he doesn't hate her, she takes whatever he can spare.

She gets up, showers and heads for breakfast. She sees him there playing with Teddy. This was perhaps his best look. He adored that baby and although she doesn't show it much, she does too. But Teddy is not a product of love. He was made to essential fortify a political career. He was America's baby and that's what makes her so distant with the child.

She was feeling brave this morning. She takes a seat next to Fitz, instead of the one across from him.

"Good morning." She says smiling.

He looks up to smile at her. "Good morning Mellie. How did you sleep?"

"Great." She pauses to examine his face to see if it was okay to go further. She wasn't one to care much about what others thought of her or any similar nonsense but with Fitz she had to walk on eggshells. "I kind of expected you there this morning..."

"Ah...well I got up early to deal with...an emergency." He returned his attention back to teddy.

She knows what that means. At least he has the decency to try and spare her feelings. She knew exactly what that meant. Olivia. She let it go. She was tired. Utterly tired. Tired of pretending. Tired of scratching for scraps. Tired of loving someone who doesn't love her back. Yes. She knows, she let it get this far. She let him slip away. But damn it, she deserved more. Enough is enough. All she had left was her pride and that too was quickly slipping away.

She suddenly stopped nibbling on the piece of fruit in front of her. She looked up and signaled for the maid to come over.

"Can you please take teddy out to play?" The maid quickly gathered the child and headed out.

"Fitz, we need to talk." He looked straight at her. He looked worried or stressed. She couldn't tell. Lately, it's all been the same.

Mellie got up and signaled for him to walk up with her. She needed privacy for everything she wanted to say. Once they were in the privacy of their bedroom Mellie set at the edge of the bed.

"Fitz I'm tired."

"What's wrong? are you sick?" He rushed to get side. And there it was. Little things like this gave her hope. Hope that he still cares. But she knew she was foolish to think so. He was just being kind. Fitz was many things but unkind was not one of them.

"No, no. I'm fine." She got up to stand next to him.

"Oh did you not get a good night sleep? It's early, go back to bed."

"No Fitz. Just...be quiet and hear me out."

"Alright, Mellie you're worrying me."

"Fitz, we both know there's no love left in this marriage. At least from you end. Because God knows how much I love you Fitzgerald. But that's doesn't matter. I just...I just want to let you know that you're free. Free from this. Free from us. I'm done trying to make you feel what you obviously haven't for a while. I'm tired, Fitz."

"Mellie, are you saying you want a divorce?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"No. Not a divorce. I'm a broken-hearted woman, but I'm not stupid. A divorce now would be the end of any future I dreamed off in politics. You can just keep doing what you're already doing with Olivia except I won't be in the way. I won't scold you. I won't beg you for scraps anymore. I'm done. We will get a divorce the moment your second term is over and you can run away with Olivia. I'm not stupid enough to through my political career away to please you but there's so much humiliation I can take. Go on. Call her. Tell her you have my blessing."

Fitz was floored. Shocked. "Mellie...I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything. This morning was the last straw. You made love to me last night & run off to see her in the morning. No, not 'made love.' You had sex with me. Just sex. And I know you do it as a duty and Fitz..." She almost lost it right there and then. "Damn it Fitz It hurts. It hurts and I'm tired. Tired of competing with Olivia because I know in this race she doesn't have to run. I have to run. And even if I end up in the finish line first, she'll always win. So that's it. I'm done. I deserve better. I may be cold hearted and a bitch but damn it! I'm still a person with feelings and a beating heart. It seems you've forgotten that. You don't know how much I yearn for you to look at me the way you look at Olivia. But...but I know that's not possible so I'm done. You do whatever you want Fitz."

"Mellie…I."

"Oh God, please don't thank me. At least pretend you're a tiny bit distraught about this. Please pretend that two decades of marriage meant _something _to you." She looked him straight in the eyes. She expected a smiling Fitz. A happy Fitz. After all this is what he wanted. But instead she saw a conflicted face. As if he wasn't sure about this.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Alright. So as it says in the story description this is a **MELLITZ** fic so if you don't ship them don't read this because I honestly don't want your snarky comments all over this fic. You have every right to ship Olitz as I do Mellitz so please, there are TONS of OLITZ fics to gush over so go read those. Thank You. As for those who ship Mellitz, enjoy and thank you for the reviews and I appreciate all the feedback :)

***5 months later** *

Fitz was in his office, reading the latest Intel on foreign police when a knock took his focus away from the documents on his desk. He looked up and calmly said "come in."

Mellie entered with Teddy who was smiling from ear to ear. As soon as Fitz sees the little boy, who looked a lot like his mother, he got up and took the baby. Mellie watched as he spoke to teddy in a hush baby voice. Fitz was many things but a bad father was not one of them. Sure he lost himself in his own sorrows but he always came back to his children.

"I know you've been busy with this whole Benghazi ordeal, so I thought you needed a bit of distraction." He walked to his desk, took a seat and placed the baby on his lap. "Anyway, I'll leave you two alone. I'll be up soon to take him to bed."

"You don't have to go…I mean…you can stay with us if you want. I know the staff is driving you crazy with the selection of china patterns, and curtains for the dinner party with the prime minister of England. You must betired. You can stay."

Mellie was trying her hardest to get over him. Get over her husband. How absurd. But that was her reality and somehow she was finding a way to get through the day. She was actually glad for the staff keeping her busy with china pattern selections. It was a great distraction. It kept her away from Fitz and away from having to think too much. The truth is they haven't spoken much over the last five months, mostly because she went out of her way to avoid him. But if she was being honest with herself she missed him all the time. But she wasn't about to tell him that. He made his choice very clear.

"I…I really have to finish the last details for the dinner party. It has to go off without a hitch." She walked to his desk and picked the empty bottle of water. "I'll tell someone to bring you another bottle and I'll come get Teddy when you two are done." She smiled at him. A genuine smile.

"Since when are you this interested in dinner parties? They bore you to death Mels." He knew exactly what she was doing. She was avoiding conversation. She was really good at that.

"Well since…" _Since you decided to love someone else. Since you decided we were no longer partners. Since you broke your vows. Since you tore me apart_. She wanted to say all this but she simply smiled. "Since I became first lady. Someone has to get things done so unless you want to go down there and pick china patterns, I better get going." She laughed.

"Eh I'll pass on the dinner preparations tonight." He laughed. "But Mellie…don't think that I don't know what you are doing. We'll have to talk sometime so whether it be today, tomorrow, next week or next month is up to you."

"Fitz we've talked and I have nothing else to say. I have finally learned how to get through this without collapsing every second I think about you with…We don't need to talk because when we talk, we argue and frankly I'm tired of fighting. I've got nothing left." With that she left as quickly as possible and shut the door behind her.

Fitz sat there, one hand smoothing Teddy's hair, and the other on his desk. He knew one day Mellie would get over the whole situation and he was surprised it took her this long. He was happy to finally be with Olivia without Mellie's reproach but he hated that this was destroying her. Mellie was strong. But she has always had a soft heart despite what she makes others believe. He remembered how sweet and so very southern she was when they first met. Her heart was the reason he fell in love with her to begin with. He had to admit that politics and all its demands had gotten to Mellie. It has made her less naïve, less bright and shiny but deep down she was still his Mellie. The woman he fell in love with and it hurt him to know that he was hurting her so much. Yes, he loved Olivia. Their relationship was hot, sexy, and passionate and he loved how free he felt with Olivia. That was something he hadn't felt in his marriage in a long time. It wasn't just Mellie's fault. It was both their fault. They both made the election and keeping him in the white house more important than their marriage and now they reap what they sowed.

Cyrus walked into the oval office with a stack of paper in hands. "Sorry to interrupt daddy and son time but these documents have to be read and signed as soon as possible."

"Can I do those in the morning Cy?" He was tired of so much paper work. He took his job as president very seriously but he wanted to spend some uninterrupted time with Teddy.

Cyrus saw that something was bothering him so he put the papers on top of his desk. "Fine, but I want those signed early in the morning."

"You got it." He went back to playing with Teddy.

"Sir, why are you with Teddy at this time? Playtime is over."

"Mellie brought him over to have some quality time with me which is being interrupted by paperwork." He shot him a look.

"I'll tell Mellie to come get him in a bit because with all due respect sir, foreign issues trumps 'quality time with adorable son' right now."

"Speaking of Mellie…Does she seem okay lately? Does she seem sad to you Cy?"

Cyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Mellie is Mellie. Even if she was sad the only person who would be able to know that is herself and God. Since when do you care about how Mellie is feeling?"

"I'm just concerned, that's all. You know the whole Olivia thing…"

Cyrus laughs. "The Olivia thing has been going on for a while and Mellie has known for just as long so I think she'll manage. Just focus on the paperwork please." He left the office.

Fitz couldn't actually pin point why this whole ordeal with Mellie was bothering him so much but it did and he was set on figuring it out.

AN: if you happen to watch Grey's let me know if you caught a tiny reference in this chapter ;)


	3. Chapter 3

This is one of those chapters that had to be written. Although I do not ship Olitz, I do not hate Olivia. I adore her, hence the way this is written. I apologize for the lack of Mellie but I'm just setting the stage for now. I do not see Mellie as a villain at all and I do find a lot of redeeming qualities to her which makes her my favorite character.

Olivia and Fitz met at hotel. They always had their rendezvous in private little corners where they could enjoy one another's company. They always enjoyed each other's company. But lately it had been different. Olivia was stuck between Jake & Fitz and although she had chosen Fitz, he was always on back of her mind. The way he risked his life for her, the way he protected her with everything he had. She loved Fitz. That much she knew but Jake was a huge distraction for her at the moment.

She finished buttoning her shirt & looked at Fitz who was still lying down. He looked walked over to him to kiss him softly.

"Are you still here with me?"

He woke up from his daze & looked at the slender, beautiful woman in front of him. "Um..yes. I'm here. Its just there's a lot of things going on in the foreign world and my head is currently all jumbled up." He lied. Benghazi was a matter he already took care of days ago but Olivia didn't have to know that. Lying to her about what he was thinking about was a lot easier than the truth because he couldn't even explain it to himself.

She straddled him & lowered to leave trails of kisses along his neck. She spoke in a hushed voice. "Well you can put all of that aside for now because I'm ready for round two." She smiled into his neck.

He laughed. "You mean round three?"

"Same difference." She continued to kiss him quite passionately but she noticed he wasn't responding the way he normally does.

"Fitz, are you really alright? Something is wrong." She knew Fitz very well.

"Nothing's wrong. I just..."

"You just what? You can talk to me."

"Have you ever stopped to think about how many people we are hurting with this relationship? I mean, how much we hurt ourselves with this relationship?"

Olivia got off his lap and sat on the bed. "Of course I do. Everyday. But Fitz we chose complicated & painful & here we are."

"Is this supposed to be this hard? I never reflected on how much pain we were inflicting because I was selfish and couldn't see beyond you and God knows how strongly I feel about you but Liv..." He took her hand in his. "Liv can you honestly say that you are completely satisfied with this relationship?"

"Fitz, I chose you and I know what I had to give up because of that choice. So whether or not I'm completely happy doesn't matter. I love you & that's all that matters."

"Are you sure about that?" He asked beause he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure that he was ready to throw it all away just yet.

She stopped to think. This was probably her only chance to actually think. "I want to go to dinner with you. I want to hold your hand in public. I want to...I want a family with you. That's what I want. I want what you've had with Mellie for the past 20 years. Even if you don't love her, she gets the best part of you. It's like I'm jealous and I don't even have the right to be."

She hated what this relationship did to her. She was strong damn it!

"Liv..." He pulled her into his arms. "Do you think we'll ever have that? Everything you just mentioned?"

"I don't know. I'll always be 'the mistress' and people are going to judge, rightfully so, may I add. I know I said I wanted complicated and painful but not this complicated and definitely not this painful. Love shouldn't hurt Fitz."

"When are you not hurting? When are you at peace Liv? With who? I want that for you. I want you to be happy. You're the infamous Olivia pope, you deserve that."

Liv stopped to think about that. Despite the roller coaster ride she had with Jake lately, she was happy with him. She loved Fitz, but everything with Fitz was messy and painful and Jake made her feel human again. It was a relationship she didn't have to hide. "I don't know, but we need to figure that out. What we really want. If at the end, every road leads back to each other, we'll brave the storm together. We need to see how it goes with other people. We need to breathe & look at this with some prospective because looking at each other with just "love eyeballs" and lust is not working. Not for me & nor for you. I can tell something is wrong." There she said it. They needed space. It had been five months of love making and picnics and a lot of quality time but that was it. They were a reclusive couple and she needed MORE.

He was quite for a while. "Time. Space. That's what we need. Like you said, if in the end we end up in each other's arms, we won't fight this anymore."

The next day Mellie made her way to her office. She sat down and confronted everything on her 'to do list'. She ranked them in order of importance. She gathered her itinerary and left the office to start her day. She was looking at her watch when a sudden _thump_ had her papers on the floor and a very handsome man looking straight in her eyes.

"M'am I'm so sorry, I was distracted and I'm running late. I'm so sorry." He rushed to pick up her papers from the floor. "Here." He handed her the papers. "Again, I'm so sorry."

Mellie found his clumsiness charming and she smiled a genuine smile for the first time in months. "That's okay, I was distracted myself." She took the papers from his hands, not realizing that they had been touching each other's hand for an awkward amount of time. "I hope whatever you are late for, was worth running over the first lady for." She joked.

"It probably isn't. I mean, I have a job interview with Cyrus Beene and I thought I knew where his office was, but apparently not. I don't think a job interview is worth running over the first lady of the United States for." He gave her a nervous laugh.

"Oh I see. His office is just down the hall. Good luck on your interview. Don't let Cyrus intimidate you. You'll definitely not get hired that way. I'll get going now." She turned to walk away and turned back. "I'm Mellie by the way. Mellie Grant."

"Oh I know who you are, first lady. I'm Leonardo. Leonardo Shaw, but most people call me Leo. What am I saying? You're not 'most people'." He silently cursed himself.

"Alright, good luck then Leo." She walked away without turning back. She didn't particularly care whether or not he got the job, but for some reason she hoped he did.

Thoughts? x


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the sweet reviews and the constructive criticisms and please remember that this is just fan fiction. x (Btw I have no clue as to how the USA elects advisors to the president and I searched it up and nothing useful came up so please if it's way off let me know, thank you.) I also want to apologize for not replying to every single review. Uni just started again and work is hectic so I don't have much time. Thank you so much for reading.

Fitz sat on his office chair looking over the candidates for the 'senior advisor' position. He tentatively read their applications. He knew these men, but he needed to make a choice and it was proving to be difficult. He was glad to hear a knock on the door. He was starting to fall asleep.

Mellie entered holding a cup of coffee. "It looks like you're planning on staying in here all night, so here's a shot of caffeine."

"Ah! Yes. I was this close to falling asleep." He took the coffee and thanked his wife.

"Alright, well I'm going to bed. Try and get some sleep. You're no good to the country when you're moody and unfocused because of the lack of sleep."

"I'm not moody." He declared.

"Not right now, but you will be. I'm not going to argue with you over this." She smiled. "Goodnight."

"Fine. I might be a tiny bit moody…. sometimes. But I need your help before you leave." He handed her the list of the candiates. "Help me narrow this list down."

"Hmmm. I thought you said I was ornamental not functional." That was perhaps one of the most hurtful things he had ever said to her. She was teasing him now, but it still hurt.

With a serious expression he responded. "I didn't mean that. I was upset. You're very functional."

She could see that this conversation was taking a serious turn so she brushed it off. "It's okay, I've forgiven you." She moved away because neither of them had realized how close they had gotten to each other. "What did you need help with?"

"Just the candidates. They are all qualified but none of them jump out at me." As Mellie was reading the names she came across Leonardo's name. "Oh. How about Mr. Shaw? He seems to fit the bill."

"Leonardo Shaw? Seriously? I mean, his name is Leonardo. Leo. That doesn't seem very official to me."

"I'm glad you're making your presidential decisions based on merits." She joked. "I ran into him earlier and he seemed like a great one. Very concerned. He was nervous. He wanted to make a good impression. That matters. It shows that he cares, and God knows you need people around who care."

"Mhmm. How about Carl Burton? His credentials speak for itself."

"Yes, it does. There you go. We've narrowed it down to two candidates. Mr. Burton and Leo. Now, choose one and go to bed."

"Leo? Since when do you call people you just met by nicknames?" He looked at her with curiosity."

"I…well you said Leo earlier so it stuck. Listen, Cyrus wants to know your answer in the morning so get to selecting. Seriously, Goodnight." She literally half jogged her way to the door.

"Goodnight." He walked over to her to kiss her forehead but she moved away before he could plant a kiss.

"Goodnight Fitz." She walked out and shut the door.

Fitz sat back down. _Well, trying it out with other people is a lot harder than I thought, especially when that someone has been hurt multiple times. I wonder if Olivia is having better luck?_

As promised, early in the morning Cyrus showed up to find out who was Fitz's winner.

"Goodmorning, Mr. President."

"Good morning. You seem awfully chipper today."

"Well, I try to switch it up once in a while Sir. So whom have you picked as the new advisor? The death of Blakely was unexpected so I'm hoping you have chosen someone to replace him."

"I haven't. Not yet. I can't decide between Mr. Shaw and Mr. Burton. Mellie seemed quite enamored with Shaw but I don't know."

"Since when do you allow Mellie to be functional?" He questioned.

"Why is everybody asking me that? She is functional. Always has been." He looked over the list one more time. "Listen, I'm going with Burton. That's it. Burton."

"And why is that? Do you not trust your wife's judgment?"

"It's not that. I just…I don't trust this 'Leo' guy." He sounded petty and he knew it but he didn't care. He didn't have a reason to distrust the guy, he just didn't like the way Mellie spoke about him.

"He was top of his class at Harvard, years of political experience in his home state of Massachusetts. You would be a fool not to choose Mr. Shaw. Your issue with him is based on trust? You've known his work for years and even admired it at one point. I can't tell if you're choosing Burton to spite Mellie, or if you're choosing Burton to get Shaw away from Mellie. I witnessed their little encounter earlier, and it was 'cute' but with all due respect Mr. President, you've lost your right to get jealous. You are the president of the United States. You can't afford to be petty. You know very well that Burton was considered because of his ties to the White house. Mr. Shaw is here solely based on Merit and I for one don't care for Burton. He has too much baggage and trust me, the last thing you need in this administration is someone with baggage." Cyrus was nothing but blunt and he could tell he hit a nerve.

"Burton is plenty qualified for the position Cy…"

"Not more so than Shaw and you know it. I'll leave you to it. You have until noon Sir." With that he left.

thoughts? x


	5. Chapter 5

AN: fanfiction means that I don't have to stick to Shonda's view on what is going to be canon etc. Fitz may no be IN love with Mellie at the moment but he definitely loves her and this fic is essentially about that. A huge thank you to clio1792. Your reviews are always a treat :')

Fitz had made his decision. He was sure about it but he needed to make sure of something before he reported the news to Cyrus. He entered their bedroom where Mellie was fixing her makeup.

"Mels, I'm going to ask you something and you have to promise to be one hundred percent honest."

Mellie put down her mascara and looked at him from the mirror.

"Since when haven't I been honest?" She left that as a rhetorical question." What can I help you with?"

"This Leo guy, did you suggest him because you think he will be a great addition to the Grant administration or because of other personal reasons?"

"Fitz, I met him for a minute. What personal reasons could I possibly have?" She returned to her makeup.

"I'm not saying you do. It's just that you seemed smitten. That's it."

"Smitten? He's an attractive man but unlike you, I can control myself. If you're worried about me running loose with Mr. Shaw and embarrass the 'oh so precious Grant administration' with another scandal, don't worry about it. But honestly, you've taken care of that on your own anyway."

"Ouch. Is this our new arrangement now?"

"There's no new arrangement. I'm still First Lady & I'll do whatever it takes to remain First Lady. I didn't sacrifice practically my entire life to quit halfway because of "feelings." I'm still your wife and I'm still Mellie. As long as the press doesn't find out about you and Olivia, you two can continue at it like bunnies. I will not interfere with that part of your life and I ask you to do the same regarding mine. Don't ask me who I'm smitten with, that's not in your territory anymore."

"Your my wife, It is in my territory. It is my business." He got up to stand right behind her and looked at her in the mirror. "Olivia and I had a fallen out. She needed space. I needed space. I won't lie and say that I'm over her because I'm not but..."

"But what? Just because your precious Olivia left you for another man you think it's okay to crawl back to me?" She was angry now.

"She didn't leave me for another...how do you even know that?"

"Words get around quick around here. Listen Fitz, call her. Apologize for whatever it is you did. I don't need you moping around here mourning the loss of your love. Call her, makeup so you can get back to being the leader of the free world."

"I can't call her. I...we decided to separate. We were suffocating one another. She wanted more and I couldn't give her what she wanted without destroying this life we've worked so hard to achieve with her help too. I couldn't make a choice."

"You chose her. She has been your choice for years now. Whatever little fight you two are having figure out how to fix it because you cannot function without her Fitz. You'll lose it sooner than later." Mellie allowed herself to hope. She wanted to believe that the words coming out his mouth were genuine, that he had actually ended with Olivia.

"No, you're not understanding. I..." He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Sir, I apologize but I really need an answer. We have to make the proper preparations." Cyrus spoke from outside.

"Cy not now! We're having an important discussion." But before Cy could respond Mellie walked over to the door and opened it. "He'll be with you in a minute."

"I'll be with you when I'm done speaking to my wife. It's urgent."

Cyrus looked annoyed and shocked. "Sir..."

Fitz quickly spoke." You'll have it in the next hour. I promise."

"Fine! But if I don't have the answer in the next hour." He warned him with his eyes. He left.

Fitz shut the door. The silence was so loud. "Like I was saying. I want us to give this a try. No more faking. A legitimate try and if it doesn't work, if our marriage is really broken, then we can both move on. But first let's give it a real try Mels."

"Fitz...what are you doing?" She wasn't in the mood for his mood swings. She remembered that night after he had killed Justice Verna Thornton. He said it was just them. 'It's just me and you.' Those words echoed in her head. That proved to be false. It was he and Olivia. So no, there was no way she was falling for this. "Fitz just because you know I love you that doesn't mean you can play with my feelings. Don't say things you don't mean. I know you must be devastated over what happens with Olivia but please." She waved him off.

"Alright. Yes, I'm devastated. But we made the choice together. You and I. We've been through hell and back and you're still by my side even though I haven't been at yours. Yes, you've done some things that I've hated you for but I could never stay mad at you. At the end of the day, you're always here. So please, let's give this a try."

"Fitz...you're playing with fire here…Listen, give me time to think. I need to think."

"Alright, take all the time you need." He walked over to the door to leave. "Oh by the way, I'll be hiring Mr. Shaw. I admit, was being petty."

She forced a smile. She was happy for Shaw but she was shocked by everything that had been said in that room just moments before." I'm sure he'll be very glad." He left.

Mellie picked up her phone. She dialed Olivia's number. She heard the other woman's voice on the line. "Liv. I...what's going on with you and Fitz?"

"Mellie. Hello to you too." She spoke with a calm tone.

"Olivia. We are not friends. I'm calling because my husband has gone crazy and I don't how to fix this. He's talking about making things work with me. With ME! He has spend nearly a decade pushing me away and now he wants to give it another try? Olivia what is going on?"

"Nothing is going on. We've decided to go our separate ways. That's it. I'm working things out with Jake. We're trying to do the right thing here Mellie. You should be happy. You won. You won him back."

I didn't win. You gave him back!"

"Why are you upset? I thought you would be thrilled!"

"I'm upset because I'm afraid this is going to destroy him. Once he realizes that he has lost you for good, he'll collapse Liv. There's nothing worse than a lovesick president. Even I can't fix that, so whatever game you two are playing this time, stop it."

"Mellie listen to me carefully, I am not going to repeat myself. Fitz and I are over." She can hear Mellie laughing on the other end. "I'm serious. I got tired of being the mistress, of being the subject of ridicule. I'm done, so take back your husband and run this great nation. Goodbye Mellie." She hung up.

"Oli-." She was left staring at the phone. This is the only time she regretted not having close girlfriends. She needed to talk to someone. She got up to head to the dining room. She was hoping to find something to do to distract her. She saw Leonardo Shaw walking towards the exit. She caught up to him. "Hey!"

Leo turned his attention to the beautiful woman in front of him. "Hello ma'am."

"I hear congratulations are in order! I'm glad you got the job."

"Yes!" He beamed." Mr. Beene said I should find you and thank you but he didn't tell me why. So thank you for whatever you did. Thank you." He smiled.

"Oh Cyrus! I didn't do anything significant." As she was speaking she saw his right hand coming towards her face.

Leo slowly flicked away an eyelash that was threatening to make its way into Mellie's eye. They both paused to look up at one another.

Fitz came from around the corner. "I am interrupting something?" He said with a crude tone.

Leo nervously took his hand away and gave Mellie a look of panic. "No sir. She had an eyelash threatening to invade her eye. I was just helping."

Mellie turned to face Fitz. "I was also congratulating him on his new position." She turned to Leo again. "Congratulations once again. I must he going. The very best of luck to you! See you soon."

"Thank you so much!" He watched as she walked away and the president quickly followed.

Once Fitz caught up to Mellie he grabbed her by the hand and roughly turned her around. "What do you think you're doing? I could've easily been a staff member! If someone saw that, it would be in the papers the next morning!" "See what Fitz? He was taking an eyelash out of my face. He would've done the same if it was you."

"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't stare longingly at my eyes. Who does he think he is anyway? I just hired him and he's already trying to smooth talk with the First Lady."

"He wasn't trying to..." She stopped. "Actually it doesn't matter what you think anymore. I'm leaving." She turned in her heel and walked away.

"Mellie! Mellie I'm not done talking!" He rushed after her.

"Stop it Fitz! You'll make a scene and then we'll definitely be on the papers by morning." She left, leaving him seething. The tables had turned and he finally knew what it felt like to be on the other side. He was beginning to understand how Mellie must have been feeling for years now.


	6. Chapter 6

This is a short one but I'll update soon. x

They had been bickering a lot lately about everything and yet nothing at all. Fitz couldn't understand the sudden change and Mellie refused to get her hopes up. So they bickered, day in and day out.

After one of their bickering sessions Mellie went to the garden for fresh air. She walked over to the small isolated bench. She kept replaying the last two weeks in her mind. She simply couldn't understand Fitz desire to reconcile. It made no sense. She was in deep thought when she saw a tall shadow approaching. He coughed to get her attention. "I see you found my thinking spot." Leo spoke with a soft voice.

"This is your thinking spot? You just got here. You can't go around claiming places." Mellie joked.

"Well yes but being an advisor requires a lot of thinking so when I feel overwhelmed I come here with my playlist and take a few moments to collect myself. Although I don't think I've ever thought for as long as you have right now." He joked, trying to pry a smile out of her.

She smiled and eyed him up and down. "Where's your music player then?" She questioned with a smirk.

"Oh. I left it in my jacket. I don't need it today. I've got someone to talk to." He smiled shamelessly.

"You bring other people to your _secret thinking_ _place_? Doesn't that defeat the point of it being secret?"

"I didn't being her here. She was already here."

She stopped to fully understand what he was saying. "Oh. You mean me...that's..."

He finally took a seat next to her. "It's fantastic. You have a lot of thoughts and I'm a great listener. So talk."

"You realize I just met you right? I'm not going to discuss private things with you."

"Well with all due respect, if you had someone to talk to you wouldn't be here. Something's bothering you, so spill." He took a look at his watch. "I have only fifteen minutes to spare so if you're going to share, this is the perfect time." He scooted closer to her.

Mellie straightened herself up. "You're quite the outspoken fella."

"Yes, yes I'm very outspoken but I'll promise to be quiet while you talk." He grinned.

She smiled. "Okay. Let's say I tell you about my troubles, what exactly are you going to do to help me?"

"Well, tell me and you'll find out."

Mellie thought about it for a while. "Alright, I have nothing to lose anyway…but whatever I say to you remains between us." She looked at him to see if he agreed. "Alright, I'm not going to tell you candid things, but what would you say to a man…or woman, who by the way you are sure is still in love with another woman…or man, but is determined to continue in a relationship with you? Does that even make sense?"

"...and is this woman in love with this man?" He figured she was talking about herself but he played along.

"Yes, but the woman is ready to move on. The woman is too tired and finds it hard to believe that she can be truly happy with this man."

"In that case, the woman should do what makes her happy. It seems this man did not appreciate her to begin with; therefore he has no right to demand her back. The woman has the mic now. Speak. Tell him you want out."

"I…I didn't say the woman was me, Mr. Shaw. It was a question. I wouldn't tell a man I just met my marital problems." She lied. Truth is she felt comfortable with him and she didn't have any friends if she was being honest with herself. She knew so many people but none of them were considered friends, so she was relieved to have someone to talk to for once.

"Fine, it's not you. I was kind of hoping it was you though." He shrugged.

Mellie looked at him with surprise. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing. It's just that if that woman you were speaking about was in fact you, that would mean that I had a chance."

_Shameless_. Mellie was shocked about how straightforward he was. "Do you realize who you are flirting with? She laughed. She was flattered. It had been a while since a man saw her in _that way_.

"Woah. In our _secret thinking place_, you are not the first lady. You're a woman and I'm a very attractive man." She laughed, a genuine laugh. "Since you're not FLOTUS here I can say and do whatever I want."

She allowed it. "I guess that's fine. But if I'm sharing, you have to share too."

"I'm an open book. What do you want to know?"

"I don't' know. I'll figure out what I want to know and I'll ask next time."

"Next time, so there will be a next time?" She could tell he was hopeful.

Mellie got up and extended her hand to him. He took it and looked up at her. She shook his hand. "Same place, same time. You're an interesting one Mr. Shaw." She mused.

"Leo. Call me Leo."

"Leo. I must get going now." She turned around and walked away. Without stopping she turned her head back and said "Thank you. This was nice. See you soon."

He waved goodbye. Deep down he knew that he was playing with fire. She was the president's wife for God's sake. This was insane but liberating and amazing all at once. He found himself smiling as he watched her leave.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: University tends to get in the way. apologies. x. This is is a very sensitive chapter and quite hard to write. x

Mellie made her way back to her room after a long day of interviews and sit-downs. One would be surprised by how exhausting that actually was. She was excited to take a long shower and relax.

She had spent a portion of her day thinking about Leo, but not in the way she wanted to think about him. Yes, she was flattered by his obvious interest in her but she was cautious. She kept thinking about what she really wanted. Leo was a couple of years younger than her, five to be exact. That in itself was flattering: the fact that a younger man found her attractive. She had always thought of herself as an attractive woman, but it had been a while since she felt appreciated.

She made her way to the bathroom and started taking off her clothes and releasing her hair from the bun it had be imprisoned to the entire day.

She stepped in the shower and stared into the glass facing her. _Should I shamelessly flirt back? It's not like Fitz held back with his share of flirting. Maybe I should. No, no. I'm a married woman and the First Lady. God! Mellie get it together. No. You have to cut this by the roots and let Leo know that there are boundaries. But are there actual boundaries? I mean, no one else seems to be respecting them so why should I?" _She got lost in her thoughts.

She started to rub her hair a little too hard and let out an audible "ouch." She froze when she saw Fitz enter the enormous shower. He shamelessly walked up to her and removed her hands from her hair and started massaging it himself. "What are you thinking about?"

She just stood there. Dumbfounded.

When she didn't reply, he continued to talk. "You know, you shouldn't massage your hair so hard. You have a sensitive scalp. But you always do this when you think too much and right now you were thinking very loudly. I remember that time we had to pick the name for Jerry. I could tell you hated the name and honestly so did I but you sat there rubbing your hair trying to figure out how to get out of naming him "Jerry." I never thought you would have such a great issue with it, but it was really cute how you stayed there and tried to come up with a name that would change things. You kept dragging your fingers through your hair and letting out exasperated sighs. Deep down I knew it was a lost cause because my father would ultimately win, but it was cute seeing you so worked up. That little frown on top of your nose, was the cutest darn thing." He lifted her chin up to look at her. He noticed she was trying not to burst in tears. Mellie had a face. He hated when she suppressed her feelings. It was one of the main reasons their marriage started to crumple to begin with. "Mels, what's wrong?"

_Tell him. You have nothing to lose. He's dead. Get rid of this burden._

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just conflicted and I asked for time to think. So Fitz, please leave." _Damn it Mellie. You're your own worse enemy._

He wrapped his hand around her waist and brought her body to his. "No. No. No. We are going to talk."

"Fitz, not now. Look where we are."

"This is a great place. You won't run away and no one is going to interrupt. So talk. Talk to me Mellie. I'm showing up for you, so please talk to me."

She stared at him for what seemed like infinity. She figured it was time. "I...remember that night you wanted to return home and give up on campaigning to become the governor of California?"

He remembered his father's harsh words. He nodded.

"I wished you had. I wished we had returned home. If we had returned home than I would've been able to talk to you and I would've let you in. I wouldn't have to hide what happened to me. I wish..." He could see visible tears forming in her eyes."I wish you had quit well before that night. Before it was too late. Of course, I'm not blaming you. I wanted it just as much as you did. But looking at our lives for the past 20 years, I sometimes wonder if it was worth it? Was it worth it losing myself? I've become someone I don't recognize. You've become someone I don't recognize. I wish we could go back."

"Mellie, what are you talking about?" He was frowning now. "Don't tell me THAT election was rigged too?"

"I wish it was that easy. Election rigging. No, no. You got that fair and square. What I'm about to tell you explains why I hate the name Jerry. Why I'm not motherly towards him or any of our children to begin with, but especially Jerry. He's a constant reminder of the most awful night of my life."

"What is it? Mellie..."

She paused. Did she really want to continue? She took his arms from around her waist and walked over to the built in glass seat inside the shower. She sat down and hugged her body, tightly. He took a few steps towards her. He had seen Mellie vulnerable before but never broken. She looked broken. "Mels, please..." He pleaded.

"That night, Big Jerry wanted to talk to me about your career. He kept going on and on about how you wouldn't make it on your own. I wanted to talk strategy. How to convince you to run for governor? We were in the living room talking and he told me about the plane incident about how you were operating that plane that killed so many people..."

"Mellie, I'm..." She wasn't even looking at him. He could tell that there was more. Worse.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to condemn you. We've both done things that we're not proud of." She looked up to look at him for the first time.

"Anyway, he kept going on about your mother and his marriage and then he sat down next to me...he looked at me with...hungry eyes, predatory eyes...lustful eyes...disgusting lustful eyes. I couldn't really tell what he was thinking until he put his hand on my tigh..."

Fitz felt his heart racing. "Mellie what happened?"

She lost it. Tears were falling and she didn't bother to stop them. She spoke in hiccups. "He..said I was beautiful...he grabbed me...Fitz I tried to stop him...I fought...I yelled for him to stop Fitz I tried..but .."

Fitz got on one knee and hugged her tight."shh. Shh, Mels, I'm so sorry."

"I wanted to tell you...I did but I was afraid...Fitz..." He pulled her off the floor and brought her to stand underneath the shower. She was shivering. "All that doesn't matter. You told me now. That's all that matters." He continued to hug her while the water cascaded over them. She kept whispering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." While he repeatedly told her it wasn't her fault.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Thank you all for leaving reviews, they're definitely motivational. x

The next few days went by slowly and quietly. They were both grieving. Despite never having a great relationship with his father, Fitz still considered him a "father." He was ruthless, self-centered and power hungry but at the end of the day, Fitz never stripped away the title of "father" from him; until now. Every ounce of respect, consideration and even love he had for this man he called "father" were wiped away. He never thought him capable of such things. If he was capable of shamelessly raping his own son's wife, raping anyone for that matter, what else could he have done?

For days, this is all he thought about. He was furious but still he found it in him to put all his anger aside and help Mellie. That is, if Mellie would start talking and dealing with everything. To anyone else, everything was normal. Mellie did her interviews, spent some time at a nursing home and even hosted a small dinner party for the wives of the state senators. All with a glorious smile and attitude. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That is, until she was alone with Fitz. She pretended they had never spoken about that awful day. Fitz was determined to end that today.

He came down for breakfast but noticed that Mellie was absent. He spoke to one of the servants. "Where's Mellie?"

"The First Lady informed us that she would not be coming down for breakfast, so Eva is going to bring her something to eat in a few minutes Sir."

He nodded. "I see." He saw Eva heading upstairs. He jogged to catch up to Eva."Eva," he took the tray from her hands. "Let me. I'll bring it up. Thank you."Eva nodded and headed back to the dining room.

Mellie was still in bed, but awake. She was staring at the lamp on her side of the bed. She heard a knock but didn't even bother to acknowledge it. She looked at the door to see Fitz enter with a tray of food.

"Mellie...are you up?"

"Yes." One-word answers. That's what their relationship had resorted to.

"You have to eat something before you start your day." He watched as she sit up and he placed the tray on her lap. "Eat up."

_God! He was trying! He was showing up and it didn't matter. Not anymore. He showed up too late._

"Fitz, I'm not hungry. I did everything I had to do yesterday and I cleared my schedule for today. I just want to rest. Not talk. Just rest."

"I'll let you rest after I see you eat and don't play this game with me because you know you'll lose." He smiled.

"You won't leave until I eat?" She was annoyed but not mad. Never mad. He was trying to make everything better, but he doesn't understand why she's upset. In truth, she didn't know herself. It's been years since that night and she has managed to continue living. She thought about it often, but it didn't hinder her life. She marched through; she did what had to be done. Now it's different. Someone else knows about that night and she didn't have it in her to pretend anymore. Telling Fitz made her relived every moment of it. And it hurt, even more now then it did back then. All the pain from years ago was meeting up with all the recent pain, and everything was worse; doubly painful.

She took a spoonful of eggs and shoved it in her mouth, followed by a gulp of orange juice. She looked at him. "There you go. Now you can leave."

Fitz reached for a piece of toast and applied a small amount of butter to it. He signaled for her to open her mouth. Mellie looked at him with disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" He didn't waver. "Open wide and bite down, then chew and finally swallow." He mused.

She laughed. "You think I forgot how to eat? You're doing that eating trick you do with Teddy."

"Teddy is better at this game then you are. You see, by now he would've finished at least half of the toast."

She smirked. "Fine, give me the damn toast." She eat it quickly. Turns out she was actually very hungry.

When she was done, Fitz took the tray from her lap and placed it on the nightstand. "Now you should get up."

"For what? I cancelled my day."

"There's a little guy downstairs that misses you a lot."

"Teddy." She missed him too. Not the throw up or frantic cries, but she missed his little smile; Fitz's smile.

"I'll go down soon and take him for a walk and maybe bring him to that park that has those diaper shaped swings that he likes so much. He loves those." She had to admit that her career, and Fitz's career had always come before anything else. But she loved her kids. She might not have the mother gene, but she still loved them. "Oh remind me not to wear high heels. Teddy is a spirited one."

"Maybe, I'll join you guys after the board meeting...if that's okay with you."

"I'm not...yeah sure." She got out of bed and walked to his side. She placed her hands around his waist and hugged him. "Thank you for the food and the talk." He hugged her tightly. "Also thank you for teaching me _how_ to eat." She let go and laughed.

"Thank you for trusting me with such a deep, personal and traumatic experience. I'm glad you told me." He cupped her face and kissed her slowly and deeply. "Thank you for everything you've sacrificed for me."

" I did it all for us. Not just you, but you're welcome. It's not something I wanted to _have _to give up, but it happened and I'm just relieved I talked to someone about it. Thank you for listening and not judging me for keeping it a secret." There was a mutual understanding between the two.

"Now I'm going to teach you how to leave a room. You turn around, walk to the door. Twist the knob, open the door and walk out." She turned him around and gave him a little shove towards the door.

"Alright, alright fine." He turned around and quickly planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll leave, but I'll be back to teach you some other things later on." He smirked and laughed.

She ignored that last comment and signal for him to leave.

"Oh and we have that dinner with the new advisor tonight. He's not married, so you won't have to make nice with a wife and all that. You just have to show up and if you're not up for it, you can excuse yourself early."

"Dinner with Leo?" She totally forgot.

He hated that she was on a nickname basis with Leonardo but he let it go. "Yeah, dinner with _Leo_." He knew he sounded petty. "Actually, you don't need to come since you're not feeling well. You can rest like you wanted."

"No, no, I'll be there. Even if I were dying I wouldn't let that get on the way of doing my First Lady duties. I'll be there. I'll show up."

"Of course you will." He said it so low that she didn't quite hear what he said.

"What did you say?"

"Oh nothing. See you later then." He left shutting the door behind him.

AN: I'm curious, in this particular fic, do you guys want Mellie to end up with Fitz or Leo? x


	9. Chapter 9

AN: This chapter had a mind of its own. It wasn't going to be this long. What can say? I really ship Mellitz. Oops. ;) if y'all wanted to contact me, you can catch me on twitter at canacafexo

With company from two body guards, Mellie made her way to the park with Teddy. Bonding with her kids wasn't something that came easily for her but she was at a new point in her life and she looked forward to being someone's mother. Just once, have this little baby look at her with love and for her to return that love through a genuine smile. She carried Teddy to the swings and placed him on the diaper shaped ones that he liked so much. She lightly pushed him forward and watched as the baby boy started giggling. She lost herself in his laughter and her thoughts. She didn't Even notice that she was pushing the swing a little too high. She snapped out of her daze when she saw Teddy crying. She stopped and removed him from the swing. "Awww, come here. Mama didn't mean to push too hard." She placed his head on her chest and rocked him back and forth. "Shhh. I'm so sorry." She stopped talking to the baby when she saw Fitz approaching from a distance. When he reached them, he reached out to Teddy. He lifted the baby up. "Who's a good boy? It's you! Yes you are. " she watched as the baby started to calm down.

"I ...I pushed him too high and he just started crying." She took Teddy's tiny hands and kissed it. "This is why Eva always takes him out. I don't have the knack for these things. I don't know why I thought..."

"It's fine Mellie. He's fine. He just got scared. You'll bring him back another day and you'll see that everything will be fine." He stopped pushing the swing. "Come here. Try it again. Just light swings. Be gentle." He stood behind her and guided her hands as she pushed the swing. Teddy was as happy as can be. "See? He was just startled. That's all." He watched as she smiled at the baby. It's true that Mellie wasn't the warmest of mothers but she did always have a way with kids when she put her heart in it. "You're a natural."

She laughed. "A natural? You had to teach me how to push a toddler on a swing. There's hardly anything natural about that."

"My point is that you know now and that's all that matters." Mellie removed Teddy from the swing and walked over to the bench to take a seat. Fitz followed. "He likes you."

Fitz frowned. "Of course he does. I'm his father." He laughed. He imitated a baby voice. "Of course he loves his daddy. Right Teddy?" The baby smiled at him and said "dada".

Mellie marveled at his level of patience. He could do this all day and not get bored. Teddy yawned. "I think he's tired. I should bring him in for a nap."

"That's okay, one of the body guards will bring him inside." He called Hal over and handed him the baby with instructions to ask Eva to put him down for a nap.

Once Hal was out of sight he looked over to Mellie. "Can I say something but you have to promise not to take it the wrong way?"

Mellie frowned but nodded yes.

"I always thought you would've been an over the top sweet, caring mom. Like those types from the 1950s comedy shows. Of course I'm not saying you weren't caring to our children, you were. But I ..."

"You expected me to be different. I get it." She looked at the gently moving swing. "I was so excited about having a baby with you. I always did want to be a mother." She laughed."Maybe it's a southern thing but I loved the idea of a family with you." She looked at Fitz. "And Fitz I would've had an entire soccer field full of Grant babies with you and I would've raised them and they would've been happy." She let go of the hand she didn't even notice she was holding. "But after that night I lost that innocence. When Cyrus told me that I had to give up my career in order for you to become great, when he said my job was making sure you were okay, when I realized that I had to live essentially for you; none of these things broke me. My job, my dreams were nothing compared to the dream that we shared. The dream of being great together. I loved that idea, I still do."

Fitz looked at her to see where she was going with this. He was engaged and listening because it was not often that Mellie opened up to him.

She continued. "But when your father did what he did to me, I realized that I wasn't as strong as I thought. I realize it was coward of me to keep silent but I couldn't give up on our dream. I never thought that our dream would one day be Individual dreams. I pretended to be okay because I thought I would always have you."

"Mellie...I'm sor..."

"No, I'm not blaming you. Not entirely anyway. I realize I had a huge role on the disintegration of our marriage. I was cold, I shut you out and you looked where else for comfort. That's understandable. I was furious about your affair but in a way, I threw you into her arms. I let her do my job. I allowed her to be there for you , emotionally and physically because I didn't want you to look at me. I didn't want to let in you. You started to look at me as a "political animal" and I let you, but truth is, I wouldn't want any of this without you. I got it in my head that "being great" was all that mattered. So I decided to keep silent, not realizing that I was driving you further away."

"You are great. I wish you had had told me, but I respect your choice. I don't know what it feels like to be...and by someone you trusted. I'm so sorry." He took her hand in his again. He paused. He has so many questions but he didn't want to be insensitive. "I can't imagine seeing him every day after and pretending to like him. Pretending like everything was fine. Even now, it must be hell whenever you think about him."

"I don't think about him often. Only when I see young Jerry..."

"Yeah he resembles him a lot. This is when I wished the Grants didn't look-a-like."

"Fitz, it's not that Jer resembles big jerry. I..." She was trying to figure out the best way to tell him. "I don't know...I'm not sure..."

"You're not sure about about?"

She couldn't say it. She couldn't do this to him."It's just hard for me to see Jerry all the time because he looks that much like your father. Especially in the beginning and the name made it even worse. That's why I wasn't very motherly towards him. He was a constant reminder."

"Ah. That makes sense. But my Jerry is nothing like Big Jerry. He's a different Grant breed. I'll make sure he turns out out nothing like my father. Not in the least." He pulled her head down to his shoulder and hugged her. He heard her stomach growl. "Let's go get something to wore me out."

She rolled her eyes. "You had him for less than ten minutes."

"I'm getting old and he's getting huge." He laughed.

"Yeah. That's true. You are getting very old. You can't even carry me for one second. It's a shame really, granpa."

"Take that back." He pouted.

"No. I was just agreeing with you." she rebelled. They were trying to move on, in their own way. Not everything had to come to light right now.

He got up and motioned for her to stand up. "Get up." He instructed.

She stood up. He lowered and lifted her into his arms. "Fitz!" she smacked his arms. "Put me down!"

"He started walking back to the house. "Take it back!"

"Fine! You've proved your point, you're still strong." She laughed.

"That's what I thought." He smiled a goofy smile and went to lunch with his wife for the first time in years.


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you all so much for the twitter love :D (Canacafexo) As I was reading the comments I noticed a lot of "Team Fitz." Sigh. SAME! ;) But Leo is definitely not out of the picture. Thank you so much for reviewing. X

Fitz and Cyrus were near the Garden speaking in hushed voices.

"Sir, I don't think that's necessary. It's unprofessional and you'll have a lot of explaining to do to the press and the public. What are you going to say? 'Oh I thought he might've been attracted to my wife whom by the way I have cheated on multiple times, so I fired him'."

"I'm not going to fire him, just let him know where his place is. He has no business flirting with a married woman."

Cyrus gave him an annoyed look. "You're serious right now?" He swung his hand in the air in defeat. "You know what, do whatever you want. If Mellie is not putting him in his place, that means she likes his flirting so who are you to try and teach him a lesson?"

"Her husband." He said very matter-of-factly.

"Barely." He spoke in a hushed voiced.

"Cy, help me out here."

"Fine, I'll have a talk with Leo." He walked away.

Fitz shouted from a distance. "It's Leonardo! Not Leo!" He noticed that Cyrus wasn't paying him any attention. He spoke to himself. "Now everybody's calling him Leo like he's a friend. Ugh."

Cyrus walked up to Leo with no reservations.

"Good evening Mr. Beene."

"Can I have a word with you?"

"Yes of course. How can I help?"

"Listen, I like you. The short time you've been here, you have proven to be an excellent addition to the Grant administration and I for one would like to keep you around." He spoke fast.

"Thank you so much. Is there something else I need to be doing?"

"No, but there is something or rather someone you shouldn't be doing." He looked at him to see of he was getting the point. He seemed clueless. "What I'm trying to say is that you will not last long if you continue to piss off the president."

"I don't understand. The president and I speak everyday and he has shown no signs of disliking me. I've been doing my best and if I may say so myself, my best is excellent, so I'm very confused."

Cyrus laughed at his cockiness. "It's not your work. That's excellent. He's quite impressed."

"The only thing the president and I have in common is the job, so what are you referring to?"

"His wife. The First Lady, who you are shamelessly flirting with. Don't think I don't see you two everyday at the garden. It's innocent now but it won't be later on so end it before it gets anywhere."

He was shocked. "I...she's lonely. We just talk, that's all."

"You weren't hired to keep her company. She'll find other friends." Cyrus looked at him, flustered." You're just friends huh?"

He lied. "Yes. That's it."

Cyrus knew he was lying. "Well, if that's it, then it will be easy to break it off. Just tell her you care about your job and you've come to the conclusion that it's better if you both go your own ways."

"I'll do that tonight at the dinner." He was upset but at the end of the day, this was his dream job.

"Very well." He walked away.

*Dinner party *

Fitz and Mellie were sitting at both ends if the gigantic dinner table. They were making small talk with various political animals. Mellie was chatting with one of the senators when he noticed Leo wasn't very present. She found this odd because he normally chatted up a storm and always had something to say. She went back to talking to the men and women around the room. When she finally decided to take a breather, Leo pulled her aside.

"Can we talk?" He whispered.

"Yes, of course. That's why we're here. You're supposed to be making connections, making Fitz look good, but you seem awfully quite. Is everything alright with the job?"

"Yes. It's wonderful actually."

"That's great! I'm glad. Then, what's wrong?"

"The thing is that I like you and I have no business liking you. The president made that very clear earlier today. Well he wasn't there, but he sent a messenger. You two are married and I should've known better. But it seemed like you were interested in me, in what way I'm not sure., but it seemed like you did so I flirted. Now I know, I was wrong. You two obviously have a chance, so I'm going to step aside."

"He did what?" She was annoyed and furious. He had no right.

"Listen, I really do like you, I mean look at you. But I really love this job, it's a dream come true and as much as I like spending time with you, I really can't anymore. I'm sorry, I have no choice."

"Don't be sorry. That's all right. It's not your fault, and as a career-oriented woman I totally understand." She touched his shoulder. "Now go and make connections." She smiled at him. Yes she was sad they wouldn't be talking as much anymore but she understood his reasoning. She cursed Fitz internally. How Could he?

The night went by smoothly. She shot death glares at Fitz throughout the dinner party just to let him know he was in trouble.

Later when the party was over, Mellie headed upstairs and Fitz followed.

The moment he shut the bedroom door he saw her wrath. "Fitzgerald Grant III! How could you?"

"Oh we're on a full name basis. I must've really messed up." He cringed.

"How could you do that to Leo? Why didn't you come to me? Sending Cyrus to threaten him? Are you a child? You had no right! I'm not your property! I can make my own decisions about who I talk to."

"If all you two were doing was taking, I wouldn't have an issue with it. The thing is you two were flirting. Shamelessly on his part, may I add. I just sent Cy there to let him know where he stood. That's all."

"I can flirt with whomever I choose to!"

"No you can't! We're married. And yes, I realize I'm being a total hypocrite right now but I don't care. You can't walk around flirting with whomever you want. I realize this is very rich coming from me but I mean it. From now on, I can't flirt with anyone and neither can you. You're mine and I'm yours, so get used to it. It might've taken me a while, but I'm in this now so no more playing games." He calmed down. "I will ask you a question and you must answer it with full honesty." She nodded. "Do you have feelings for Leo?"

"Fitz, I just met the guy."

"That doesn't matter. I had feelings for Liv the moment I met her."

Ouch. That stung. "I'm not you. I don't get involved with whoever looks my way."

"Answer the question."

"I find him charming. I enjoy his company. That's it."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She pondered for a while. "Let me ask you something, do you still have feelings for Olivia?"

"I do. It doesn't just go away because I want it to, and I _want_ it to." He noticed he was hurting her but of course she showed no emotions. Not even a hint of anger. "But I think of her less often now. I look at you differently now too. I notice you. I notice when you walk away. I stare to be more exact; appreciating your assets." He wasn't ashamed to tell her these things. "I watch you when you sleep. I notice that cute noise you make when you sleep. It's not loud enough to hear in my sleep but when I'm awake and close enough it's very audible. I love the way your hair falls flawlessly with no effort on your part. I love the way you focus when you're reading a really good book and oh! I love the way you read to Teddy at night. I know it's not your thing but you do it so well." He walked up really close to her. "So yes, I still have feelings for Olivia. I will always love her in a way, but you're the one I'm interested in now. You're the one I'm noticing." He placed his forefinger on the dimple on her chin.

She definitely did not expect that. "Do you know how it hurts to need someone so much for so long and get nothing in return? For so long, I wished you could see how simple it could be. How simple we could be, but it was always complicated with us. But now, now you want to give this a try and I..."

"You what?"

She placed her hands on the back oh his head and pulled him towards her. "If you want to win my heart, just shut your mouth." She pulled him in for a long kiss. She kissed him hard before letting go.

"What about Leo?"

"What about him? I'm still going to talk to him because contrary to what you believe, I actually like having friends."

"But he likes you." He frowned.

"I'm well aware but I doubt he'll try anything. He loves this job, so be nice."

"Fine, but I swear to God if he..."

"You won't do anything about it. It's not middle school. You have me. Be confident in that."

He smiled. "I might need proof."

She kissed him again. Harder. Their tongues did this little dance and they lost themselves. She finally let go to catch her breath. "Proof enough?"

"Nope. I need a little more convincing." He smirked.

She removed his blazer and tie. "I like where you're going with this."

"Hmmm. Sometimes you need to learn how to shut up." She unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it on the floor.

"You're over dressed." He pointed out.

"And whose fault is that?" She kissed his jaw.

He got the message and unzipped the dress that clung to her body. She let it fall to the floor carelessly and stepped out of her heels. She watched as he watched her. He tossed her hair back and cupped her breast through her bra with his hands. "Still overdressed." He whined.

"A lot of complaining and yet you're not doing anything about it." He stopped talking and started doing. She was bare in less than a minute. No ceremony, not romantic lyrics. He just removed her underwear and appreciated her curves. Every inch of her. She was glorious. He kissed her again. Her smell was intoxicating. "Now, you see how not talking really helps." She moaned in his mouth.

"Hmm. I see. Shutting up."

AN: Use your imagination for the rest tehehe.


	11. Chapter 11

I was supposed to update sooner but the Scandal cast distracted me so much these past few days. They're iconic. That's all.

Mellie looked in every drawer for a pen. One would think there would be at least one pen lying around in the Oval Office. The cup that held the pens was filled with mints. She smiled at that. She opened one of Fitz drawers but found nothing. She noticed one of the drawers was locked. Curiosity hit her. _No, no I couldn't open it. _But then again she did need a pen. She walked over to grab the key behind the photo frame. Fitz always hid his keys behind paintings and photo frames. No one else knew that except her; she had memorized all his tells and tricks. She quickly grabbed the keys and opened the drawer. She searched around for a pen and her fingers landed on a metal item. A key. It didn't seem familiar, so she put it back in its place. She noticed the enveloped labeled "Vermont." She didn't even realize they had any connections to Vermont. She grabbed the envelope and opened it. Property papers. Fitz owned a house in Vermont. Just as she was about to put everything in place, Fitz walked in.

"What are you doing?" She could tell he was nervous.

"I needed…" She read the papers again. "You own property in Vermont?" She was genuinely confused. "How come I never knew about this?"

"Mellie, I didn't' tell you about that house because..." He realized he was in deep trouble. He should've handed the papers to Liv.

She finished the sentence for him. "Because you didn't want me to know. You didn't expect me to find out." Mellie's mind worked very quickly as she put the pieces together. "Tell me Fitz, who is suppose to know?" She was furious and hurt. She knew the answer but she wanted to hear him say it. "Who?" Her voice got deeper.

"Mellie, don't do this." He walked towards her.

"No, tell me Fitz! Did you buy her a _house? _A fucking_ house?" _

His silence spoke volumes. "It was foolish, I realize that now. Mellie please calm down." He spoke in a calm, worried voice.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?" She took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm calm." She tossed the papers at his face. Then she picked them up again.

He let her get her anger out before he tried to fix the problem. He watched as she picked up the papers and walked right next to his face. She ripped the papers to pieces. She spoke with a hurt, deep voice. He could tell she was holding back tears. "Now, I'm calm." She walked out.

He stormed out after her. Cyrus stopped him. "Let her go. She's going to be mad until she's blue in the face. Let her cam down, She won't want to talk to you for a while after that move."

"How do you even know…" He didn't even finish that sentence because he realized Cyrus found out about everything eventually. He simply walked away.

Mellie made her way into her secret place in the garden. She sat down on the bench. _He brought her a house! A damn house! _She had realized a long time ago that Fitz loves Olivia, but she really believed that he wanted a new beginning with her. It's been months since he broke it off with Olivia. Why would he still have pictures of her and property papers? She was crying; not because he brought her a house, but because months had gone by and he did nothing to get rid of her memory.

She didn't notice Leo sit next to her. "You're still pretty cute when you cry." He spoke, while admiring the sky.

She looked up, not amused. She dried her tears. "I'm not crying. Just allergies." She rubbed her eyes for emphasis.

He laughed. "You're also a terrible liar."

"I'm an excellent liar." She said simply.

"Alright, but next time come up with something better. 'allergies' is such an overused excuse. Maybe if you had said something like 'I poked myself with a flower' I would've believed you."

"Really? That flower excuse would've worked?" She smirked.

"Yeah, it would've. I mean how often are people poked in the eye with a flower?" He smiled down at her. "But I mean it, you do look very pretty even with puffy eyes."

"I thought you were done flirting me with."

"That's not flirting. I was just pointing out a fact. It's like me saying 'Beyoncé is very attractive.' I'm not flirting with Beyoncé, I'm merely point out a fact." He looked at her with an innocent face.

She laughed. "Are you saying you wouldn't flirt with Beyoncé? Now I know that's a lie because even I would flirt with Beyoncé." She laughed.

He put his hand on his mouth and pretended to be scandalized. "Mellie Grant, I would never!" They both laughed. For a while Mellie forgot about her anger.

He turned to her and spoke. "If you need someone to talk it out with, you've got me. I can't flirt with you but I can definitely be a great shoulder to cry on."

"That's okay." She stood up. "Thank you, anyway."

"Mellie…" He walked up to her and hugged her. She just stood there shocked. Moments later she returned the hug and whispered, "Thank you. Leo."

"Anytime." He let go and walked away.

Mellie entered her office. She was exhausted. She had managed to get a lot done today, mostly because she was avoiding her own thoughts; she was trying to drown them with work.

She immediately got annoyed when she saw Fitz enter through the door. "Can we talk now?"

She was in no mood to argue. "Can we talk later?"

"No. I gave you time to calm down. Now it's my turn to talk." He sat down. "I don't understand why you're upset. I brought that house way before I decided to give us a try, Mellie. Yes, I should've told you but I knew it would've upset you so I saw no point of bringing it up." He explained.

"You really don't get it? Do you? I'm furious about the house, I am. But that's not what's upsetting me most." She took a deep breath. "The fact that it's been months since you broke up with her and you still have pictures of her and house documents. How damn domestic of you to buy her a house!" She was straying away from the main point. "I just want to know _why _you haven't gotten rid of this house? Her pictures? Her _pictures_ Fitz! Something so simply."

"The house is Liv's. I don't want it. I don't need it. She'll handle the house. As for the pictures, I still have them because I completely forgot they were there. It's not like I open that drawer everyday." He said calmly.

"Her house? You forgot?" She put up her hands in surrender. "I give up. Do you think I'm an idiot? You kept all these things because deep down you still hope 'all roads lead to Fitz'."

He stood up and grabbed her hands and pulled her towards him. "Enough! Not everything has a hidden agenda Mellie. You asked and I answered truthfully. I love Liv, but I hope she finds her happiness with Jake or whomever she chooses. She's not my concern now. You are, so stop acting this way because of jealousy."

"Let go of me."

"No, you need to stop running away from every argument we have."

"Fitz…"

"You think I didn't see you and Leo all cozy earlier today? But here I am not making a big deal about it because I trust you. So do the same."

"Are you seriously comparing a hug to a house? Please tell me you're joking!?"

"No. All I'm saying is that we need to put jealousy aside because it's clouding our judgment." He pulled her closer. "Listen Mellie, the papers are ripped and the pictures are gone too. Enough. I really believe we're not broken, just bent and we can't keep hurting each other like this." He noticed that her body was relaxed now against his own.

"Take care of that house and anything else you might still have of hers."

"Tell Leonardo he has to keep his distance."

"No. He hasn't done anything. We haven't done anything so please don't try and compare our relationship with yours."

"Fair enough. I still don't like him." He pouted.

She let go of him and returned to her desk. "You, don't have to. I like him and that's enough. He's a friend and I need that right now."

He wanted to throw things and punch a wall but he contained it. "Alright then, I'll go…over there." He faked a smile.

She smirked. "Great, enjoy your day. Shut the door on your way out."


	12. Chapter 12

Happy Scandal Thursday Gladiators! Super excited for today! 3 AM and I'm updating so forgive for any mistakes. x

Fitz and Leonardo made their way out of the board room. The budget meeting had been long and fruitless. Both men were ready to get on with their day.  
Fitz stopped Leo.

"Can I have a word with you?"

"Of course, Sir. How may I help?I know that meeting seemed like a waste of time but I promise we'll have a budget decision by the end of the week. We just have to work together."

"Yes, I know. Those men, including yourself, are brilliant at their jobs. We'll figure something out." He contemplated for a while. "I didn't want to talk about work with you. This matter is more urgent."

"Oh. I'm not sure how else I'm able to help then Sir." He knew it was about Mellie but he wasn't about to bring up the subject.

"Look, I know I've done some horrible things: Cheated, lied and hurt Mellie in so many ways. There's no point of lying to you because I assume Mellie tells you a lot anyway..." He was cut off.  
"Actually she does..."  
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that I've come to my senses and I want to make her happy; repair this marriage."

He didn't know what to say. It was awkward to say the least. "With all due respect Sir I think that's between you and your wife."

"That's precisely my point. It should be between my wife and I. Hence why you should take a step back and let us work this out. Mellie likes you and I know you're just 'friends' but I don't like it."

"Sir don't you think we're both a bit too old to take orders from you?" He was holding back but his entitlement started to annoy him. He clenched his teeth. "It's not an order. It's a consideration. Be considerate of our relationship and keep your presence here strictly professional."

That's it. "I'm going to give you an advice. You've got to learn how to fight for what you want. I don't know about your personal life but politically speaking you've always has someone there to do your hard work. Weather it be Cyrus, Mellie or even Olivia pope, someone is always there. Your life is very public Mr. president, people notice 's nothing wrong with being part of a team, but once in a while you've got to lead."

He could tell he hit a nerve, but he continued. "If Mellie is continuing to talk to me it's because she's missing something from you. The little time I've spent with her has showed me that she's broken. I've also noticed that she loves you, to be honest I don't know why after everything, but she does. It seems you have taken her for granted for too long and now you're trying to glue it all together with cheap tape. Your threats to me are cheap. Your entitlement towards her is cheap. She doesn't have to forgive you. No matter how monstrous you think she is or might've been, she's far too good for you. But I know she will eventually forgive you, simply because she loves you. No matter how much I flirt with her it won't matter because she loves you. You haven't loved her for a while and maybe now you're starting to see what you gave up."

He stopped to look him square in the eye. "For Mellie, and for her only, I'll keep a distance. You're her happiness, at least that's what she thinks now. I'm not doing this to keep my job because let's be honest, I haven't done anything to get fired." He turned around to walk away but returned a few moments later. "But be sure that the moment you hurt her again and she needs someone to be her friend, I'll be right there and I won't hold back because you're technically my boss." He left leaving Fitz stunned.

_

Fitz left the White House to meet up with Olivia. They promised they would catch up with each other every once in a while. Olivia opened the door to her apartment.

"Hi. Come in." She was happy to see him.

"Hi." The familiar word making him remember their old arrangements. "I thought we should talk."

"Alright." She handed him a glass of wine while they took a seat on the coach. "How's everything?"

"Hard. Trying to repair a broken marriage is really hard." He laughed.

"Same here. I mean, we're doing well but I can tell he's holding back in fear that in any moment I'll leave. That's my fault really." She watched him.

"Mellie wasn't as welcoming as you thought?"

"Initially she was and it looked like we were going to make it for a minute there but..." He drank the wine he was holding. "This damn Leonardo keeps popping up left and right."

"Leonardo who?"

"He's this new senior advisor." He waved that off. "Anyway, he's all over Mellie and she l_ets_ him Liv! She lets him."

Olivia snickered. "I think you're paranoid. Just because you were unfaithful doesn't mean she'll be." She scooted over to him. "Mellie lacks many things but loyalty and love for you are not on that list. She loves you. During this whole fiasco with us, that was the one thing that remained constant; her love for you." She took his hand and patted it. "I think she's giving you grief for all you've done; It's Mellie after all. Just continue to try." She looked at him for a bit too long. He noticed.

"You know I told her I still love you?"  
She laughed nervously. "What a great way to her heart Fitz! She must be swooned."

"We were being honest, so I told her." He put his hand on her cheek. "I'll always love you, No matter what."

"Fitz..." She moved away but he inched closer.

"I just can't help thinking if we made the right choice..." He moved in to kiss her.

Liv moved away quickly and hurried to the door. "Fitz please leave. We can't do this anymore. You're conflicted. Please go and talk to Mellie, get it together and win back your wife."

"I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry." He moved towards the door.

"It's okay. It was a relapse, it's normal. The familiarly attracted you. Forget about it and go home." She patted his arms. He left.  
He handed her the house documents. "It's your house. Sell it, keep it, do whatever you want with it." He left.

_

The next day Fitz found Mellie eating breakfast with Teddy. "Good morning beautiful." He planted a kiss on her head. He kissed Teddy as well.  
Mellie didn't reply. Fitz noticed.

"Usually people greet back, nod , smile anything ..."

"I'm glad you're having such a great morning. Not all of us are." She looked upset.

He looked over to Marta. "Marta, could you please take Teddy upstairs for a bath. He got all dirty trying to eat by himself." He lifted the toddler up. "Good job big guy. Go to take a bath before play time." He handed Marta the baby. Once they were out of sight he spoke.

"What did I do now?" He sat down next to her.

"Oh so you're aware that you did something?"

"I'm assuming I did by the look on your face."

She tossed the newspaper at him. "You know it's not enough that you constantly lie but you have the nerve to get upset over me talking to another man."

"What are you..." He saw the pictures of him leaving Olivia's house. "Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say?" She wasn't yelling. She was tired of wasting her voice.

"I visited Liv to deliver the house papers." He explained.

"Anybody in this White House could've done that." She stared him down.  
"Well I didn't want to risk anyone finding out about the the staff found out..."

She understood, she lightened up. "So nothing happened at her house? Do not lie to me Fitz because I know when you're lying." She warned.

He looked away from her. "Nothing happened. I promise." He partially lied.  
She stared at him. "and there it is. Something did happen." She got up to leave. "You're unbelievable."  
He got up and got I front of her. "Nothing happened." He was nervous.

"Well a kiss almost happened, but it didn't. It was just a familiar setting so I lost it for a few seconds. I promise nothing else happened." He looked at her very deep blue eyes. She has a pout forming in her lips and it was the cutest thing. He kissed the dimple on her chin. "Nothing else. I promise." He kissed her nose. "I won't see her again, if that helps." He kissed her on the lips. She didn't return the kiss.

"You're still mad." He noticed.

"You're damn right I'm mad. You have such a long way to go Fitz. I have a long way to go. I will not take your scraps anymore." She gave him a peck on the lips and left.

There he stood, examining the kiss. Just a peck. No passion, nothing. He might've as well kissed his sister. That's what it felt like. He realized he was in deep trouble. When Mellie didn't yell, he was in trouble. 


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Apologies! Midterms are driving me bananas! But I'll show up for you more often, I promise. X

Fitz got up at 4am. He didn't have to be up until 5:30 AM, but he felt restless. He stepped into the bathroom but took a minute to breathe because he felt light-headed. He shook it off and turned on the hot water. He removed his shirt and just as he was about to do the same with his buttons he tumbles to the floor.

Mellie had an early morning herself but nowhere near as early as Fitz'. She got out of bed at around 6am and headed to the bathroom. She heard the water running.

"Fitz, it's nearly 6am. I heard you wake up hours ago."

She heard nothing. "Fitz, you're going to be late for your meeting with the governor of Massachusetts." Nothing.

"All right I'm coming in. You can't be la..." Once she opened the door she saw him lying there. She rushed to his side. She shook him lightly and put her palms on his face.

"Fitz! What's wrong!? Fitz! Wake up!" She ran out of the bathroom to call for help. Hal was standing right outside the their door waiting for the president to come out.

Mellie spoke out of breath. "Get the doctor up here! Quick! Do not make a scene! Just go get him!"

"Yes Ma'am." He rushed off.

Mellie made her way to the bathroom once again. She kneeled down beside him. "Fitz..." He looked so vulnerable, so human, which is funny because they had stopped thinking of themselves are humans. They were political animals and neither of them has experienced the 'human' side of one another for a long time. He always looked so strong. All of a sudden their mortality hit her. She looked at him and realized how much she would miss him if he were gone.

Lost in her thoughts she didn't notice Hal and a couple of other men enter the room and make their way towards Fitz. She felt one of them grab her arm and raise her up. Everything was a blur. The next thing she knew Fitz was on the bed being examined. She urged them to bring him to a hospital but the doctor claimed it was just anxiety and that he would be out of it in a while.

"Anxiety. Anxiety?"

"Yes ma'am. It happens often with people in his position. Sometimes the workload and stress get to you and you body stops responding for a while. He'll start responding soon. Meanwhile he needs rest."

"Anxiety." She kept repeating that word. For a minute there she thought she lost him. Yes, they constantly fight and their relationship is not the healthiest but she needed him as much as he needed her and whether or not he loved her it didn't matter. Well it mattered, but not right now. All she knew was that she loved him. Seeing him lying there unconscious made her mind go places that she didn't want to go. Yes, ninety percent of the time Fitz is an immature, egotistical and selfish jackass but she loved him to her detriment.

She excused everybody out of the room. She sat by his side, still wearing her nightgown.

"Fitz, I don't know if you can hear me but if you can, please come back." She remembered the last time he was unconscious. He called out for Olivia's name. That hurt then and it still hurts now. She looked at his face. He looked pale & it seemed like he lost some weight. "Listen, say something. Anything. You can even call her name, and I won't be upset. Just...wake up. I don't know why I'm frantic if the doctor said it was just anxiety but you know how I get. So please, calm my nerves and wake." She brought his right hand to palm her face. "Remember when I was pregnant with Karen and I wouldn't wake up after I gave birth to her and you brought over that huge karaoke machine into the room & started singing _total eclipse of the heart_ really loudly and..." She laughed.

She felt a touch on her face. He was gently rubbing his thumb on her cheek. "And I wouldn't shut up until I was sure you heard me. You woke up the next day." _Turn around bright eyes_. He gave her a weak smile.

"Fitz!" She hugged him. Hard.

"Ouch. My chest hurts for some reason."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You're chest hurts? I'm going to call Dr. Edelstein back to check that out." She let go.

"No. I think I just fell too hard. What happened?"

"You had an anxiety attack but you're fine now."

"Anxiety?"

"Yes, the Doctor said, you need to relax."

"I'm trying to run a country, I can't afford to relax."

"Yes you can, that's why you have a team of people. Cyrus will be taking care of everything that requires your signature which you will provide once he has briefed you on the material."

"That's great. What about everything else? I don't trust Sally to take over..."

"Don't worry Sally will be helping but not with anything overly sensitive. Cyrus and Leo are working on everything else. You just focus on relaxing."

"You've taken care of everything huh?"

"Well, I will once I leave this room."

"You're going to make a great president someday."

"Who said I wanted that?"

"Your eyes speak volumes. Your ambition is very crystal clear." He commented.

"Only with a great first gentleman by my side." She smiled.

"Who did you have in mind?" He asked smiling from.

"Um I don't know. I think Leo is the front-runner right now. I'm keeping my options open." She joked.

"Ha! Funny!" He pulled her close and she lay next to him. Her head cradled on his chest. "In all seriousness, I'll be by your side. Quite frankly I don't think Sally has it in her to be president, even if Jesus loves her." They laughed.

"Well like I said before, I can't compete with religious fervor, but we'll see. For now we have to focus on your presidency. Well not today because you have to rest." She patted his chest.

"Relax. You know what's relaxing?" he smirked. She knew that smirked.

"Well I'm not one to get on the way of relaxation." She swung her body and straddled him. "Are you sure, you're feeling alright?"

He looked her up and down. "Oh yeah. In fact, I'm great." He put is hands around her waist. He loved her curves.

"Well neither of us have showered…" she kissed his neck.

"Yes, and I hear you're big on helping out the environment and what better way to save water by showering together." He moved his hand up and down her thigh.

"Precisely." She got off his lap and stood up to go to the bathroom. He practically pounced after her. He pulled the nightgown over her head. "You won't be needing that."

"Fitz!" She giggled.

He loved that sweet southern conservativeness she still had.

That morning they made love for the first time in a long time. had slept together numerous times ever since they started repairing their marriage but this time it was different. They had been careful before but now they found a brand new freedom. They were comfortable with one another once again. It was intimate. He explored every inch of her body with care and she savored every second. She kissed him with a slight hallelujah on her lips. She almost lost him and she held on tight. He could feel the love, the passion, and the urgency and held on even tighter. They were suffocation one another, but it was a welcomed. Neither wanted to let go, so they stood there breathing each other in.

_And I need you now tonight_

_And I need you more than ever_

_And if you only hold me tight_

_We'll be holding on forever_

_And we'll only be making it right_


	14. Chapter 14

Really short update before the last chapter, which I promise will be good and longer. Thank you all for the tweets, PMs, and reviews. It really makes my day. X

Leo let the envelope fall on top of the president's desk. Mellie looked up from the science magazine she was reading when she heard a _thump._

"Leo! I didn't even hear you come in. How are you?" She flashed him a big smile.

He smiled back. "I didn't want to disturb, just came to drop this off for the President. It's my resignation letter."

Mellie put the magazine down & walked over to him. "Don't do that. You're amazing at what you do. Don't let personal issues get in the way of your greatness." She spoke from experience.

"I will admit that I am partially doing this for you. But, I don't feel at home here. I've been offered a great job opportunity in England and I said yes. Granted, it won't be as fancy as this job but I'm sure I'll love it."

"Are you sure about this? I can talk to Fitz, you don't have to do this."

"Mellie, I'm positive." He gave her a hug. "I'll keep in touch."

Fitz walked in. "Sorry to interrupt."

Leo let go of Mellie. They stood there awkwardly. "I just came to hand you my resignation letter." Leo walked over to the door. "Take care Mellie." He turned to Fitz. "Take care of her Fitz."

He was stunned. "Of course I'll take care of her. She's my wife." He said defensively.

Leo looked over to Mellie & said yet another silent goodbye and shut the door.

"Wow." Fitz spoke.

"Yeah." She spoke in a hushed voice.

"It's all for the best." She gathered the magazine and walked to the door.

"Hopefully."

_3 months later _

Cyrus rushed after Fitz. "This is honestly the greatest idea you've had in a while. The public will love this." He hadn't been this thrilled with the first couple in a while.

"I'm not doing this for the public. I'm doing it for us. Plus, Mellie hasn't said _yes_ so don't start a parade yet."

"She'll say yes! I know Mellie, she would do anything for you."

Fitz was nervous. "What if she doesn't?"

"She's your wife, of course she'll say yes. Now go and ask."

"Okay here I go. Wish me luck." He fixed his tie and headed to find Mellie.

Cyrus spoke to himself. "You would think he was still in high school." He shook his head.

Fitz found Mellie in her office looking over some paperwork. "Hey there."

Mellie looked up and was glad to see a smiling Fitz. She got up and wrapped her hand around his waist. She planted a gentle kiss to his lips. "Hey yourself."

He pulled her in for a hug. "Ugh. I've missed you."

"You see me everyday." She laughed.

"That doesn't matter, I still miss you." He hugged her for a while and spoke. "I have something to ask you."

She looked up at him, but he kept her close. 'I want you to stay here, in my embrace. Heart to heart."

"Okay." She hugged him tighter.

"I was wondering if you would do me the honor of marrying me."

"Fitz, we're already married." She exclaimed, confused.

"Yes, I'm well aware but I haven't lived up to my vows and I want us to start again. Fresh."

She stayed silent for a while.

"Not the response I was looking for…"

"No, no. I…I haven't lived up to my end too. This means so much to me." She held kept holding him closer. "Fitzgerald Grant the III, yes I will marry you…again."

He smiled and lifted her up and kissed her over and over.

"Fitz!" She held on tight.

"This is like when we first met except, this time I know you a lot better, and we've made all the stupid mistakes that we can possibly make in a marriage. Seriously, we could teach a class." He laughed. "I'm excited for us." He put her down, but maintained his embrace on her.

"I love you." It was unhinged and full of everything she was feeling. "For a while I didn't know what I felt for you anymore and I must admit that I lost myself. I'm so happy that I can finally say these words without feeling overwhelmed and worried about your response. I love you Fitz." She buried her head in his shoulders.

He kissed the top of her head, slightly taking in the scent of her hair. "I love you too Mels." It was natural, no hesitation, no thinking.

AN: But can we talk about Drellie/Andrellie/Mew? Too cute. My feels are literally everywhere. Couldn't be happier with these past episodes, & I couldn't be happier with my decision to join the Scandal fandom. Y'all have been so amazing. No matter whom we ship or which characters we dislike/love, you guys are incredibly civil and in general a lovely bunch of people. Thank you for a great experience


	15. Chapter 15

Final Chapter. This was a great ride with you guys. Thank you for reading. X if you have any questions, feel free to PM, or tweet me ( Canacafe_ ) .

She didn't wear a wedding dress, after all they we simply renewing their vows. She searched for a dress for weeks. She couldn't find one. She didn't want to find one. She was waiting for the last shoe to drop. She knew she couldn't do this without telling him the truth first.

Eva tried to zip up the last dress she had tried on but Mellie wouldn't stop moving. "M'am please, I don't want to zip your skin. This one also looks great, if only you would let me zip it up." She stopped moving & Eva Finished. "Radiant. All these looked very good on you, now it's just a matter of personal taste."

She smiled. "Call Fitz for me."

"With all due respect, the groom is not suppose to see the bride..."

"He's not my groom. He's my husband. Now can you please go and call him. Tell him it's an emergency."

"Yes m'am." In less than 10 minutes Fitz arrived on their bedroom.

"I came as soon as I could get out of that meeting. Eva said it was an emergency." He looked concerned. He turned his attention to the dress. It was subtle cream with transparent floral embroidery around the chest. It hugged her body in all the right places but yet had a very elegant look to it. He spoke. "Wow." He walked up to her and hard her hand to make her turn around.

"Wow. You look...wow." He kissed her. Hard. "Wow." He whispered. Mellie smiled but he could tell there was something wrong.

"What is it?"

"Fitz...I ...come here. sit." She took his hands and they both sat on the edge of their bed. "I didn't want to go through with this and not be 100% truthful with you."

"What is it?" He was calm and ready to listen. He knew that was his main flaw in their marriage. He never fully listened to her.

"I don't want to remember that awful night but... I have to tell you something and all I ask for is forgiveness. Not even, understanding, just forgiveness."

"Mellie I don't want you to relive that moment..."

"It's okay. I need to finish telling you. I have to." She held his hand. "That night your father forced himself on me was a nightmare. I didn't tell you about that night primaly because of the consequences. Fitz...Our son...Jerry..I'm..." She couldn't bring herself to tell him.

"Mellie look at me. I'm holding your hand. No matter what you tell me, I won't let this hand go. I promise."

She took a deep breathe. "I don't know who Jerry's father is. I don't if he's your son or your brother. I don't know Fitz and it eats me up inside everyday. I told myself he had to be yours. I mean, How unlucky would I have to be to get pregnant from a rape?" She let out a sarcastic, dark laugh."and the not knowing kills me."

He didn't let go of her hands, as promised. "I...you don't know?"

"I could've easily gotten a DNA test for him and find out but I don't want to know. If he's not yours, I wouldn't be able to live with that. Fitz..."

"It's okay." He brought her in for a hug. "He's mine. Jerry is my son. I don't want to know."

"Fitz you don't have to do that. You can find out if you want."

"No. He's my son. I raised him. I played basketball with him. I fed him. I changed him. I stayed up late with him when he got sick. He's mine." He stopped his tears. "He's ours."

"He's ours."She repeated.

"Yes. Very much so." He kissed the top of her head.

"Anything else you want to tell me."

"No, but I think that was enough."

"Are you sure? You can tell me anything, you know that?"

"I know." She let out a sigh of relief.

"So is there anything else?"

"Well...We ran out of that chocolate you like." She smiled into his chest.

"How? I left like at least 10 in there." He faked gasped. "How would you know they're gone anyway.

"Because I eat them all. I only have one left and I'm not sharing." She reached over dresser, still holding one of his hand, and picked up the last one. Without any ceremony she removed the rapper and threw the small ball of chocolate into her mouth.

"You evil woman. Now I'm gonna be forced to get it from you." He grabbed her neck and brought her face to his. They kissed and shared chocolate.

"Yum. It taste better." He winked. He got up to leave. "The ceremony is next week and I hear you don't even have a dress yet. If it helps, I love this one." He left.

She finally found a dress. One very similar to the one she wore before. She was in her bedroom fixing the details of her makeup when she heard the knock on the door.

"Come in. Unless it's Fitz. If it's Fitz, you can leave because I don't need distractions."She saw Olivia's reflection on the mirror.

"Liv? What are you doing here?"

"I...well Cyrus invited me. He said people would question my absence. Jake is here too."

"Um...I guess that's okay. What are you doing in this room though?"

"I just came to apologize."

"What for?"

"Everything. For ruining your marriage. For causing you grief and all the bad blood between us. I want to walk out of here today with Jake by my side, smiling and feeling the sun on my face." Mellie looked at her.

"No need to apologize. Yes, sleeping with my husband was a low for you but you did not necessarily ruin our marriage. It was already ruined for reasons I don't wish to say. There has been a lot of bad blood between us, so if it helps I forgive you. I would also like to ask you to forgive me. It takes two to feud."

Liv smiled. "Look at you. All grown up and happy. Happy. That's something I never thought I would see in you. I'm glad." She walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Of course this doesn't mean we'll double date." Mellie joked.

"Wasn't planning on it." Liv smiled and walked towards the door to leave.

"You look beautiful by the way." She walked out & shut the door.

The garden had been decorated beautiful. Mellie took care of the preparations personally. Everything looked beautiful. She looked around at the guests as she walked down the short isles. The audience consisted of mostly close political "friends" and their wives. She did, however, see Leo sitting on the fourth row. She smiled at him and he returned the smile. She invited him and she was glad he came.

She finally made it to where Fitz was standing looking devilish handsome in his tux. They looked at each other as the priest Spoke.

"I hear the couple have prepared vows?"

Fitz reached into his pocket and grabbed a piece of paper then proceeded to put it back.

"I wrote down a lot of things but there's no need. All I have to say is that I'm excited. Excited for our new beginning. Excited for this new road that we are taking, this new journey. Melody Grant, I'm excited for this new life with you. I don't promise that I won't mess up, but I promise to work it out with you. I promise to always show up for you, to always love you. Always."

Mellie smiled. "And I promise to talk to you, to share my life with you: the good and the bed. I'm excited at a second chance. A second chance at love."

Fitz didn't even wait for the priest to announce anything. He took her hands in his and kissed her. "I love you Mels."

"I love you too."

*3 Years and a half later*

Teddy carried his very small suitcase into their new North Carolina home. Fitz followed with two more. Karen and Jerry were arriving next week. Mellie carried baby Katherine in her arms. She was two now and more than capable of walking, but she wasn't in the came out again and took the bag that Mellie was holding.

"Now, I'm not the President so I get to carry stuff like every other guy." He joked.

"You wanna carry Katie and I into the house?" She joked.

"As you wish." He dropped the bag and lifted Mellie into his arms.

"Fitz, put us down! I was joking you idiot. You'll throw your back!"

"I'm fine." He was struggling but he wouldn't tell her that. He carried them all the way inside. Kate kept giggling.

"Kate go play with Teddy." She put the toddler down and watched as she ran after her brother.

"Are you hungry?" Fitz asked as he opened the fridge.

"Yes, but first I need a long bath." She took her heels off.

"Can I join." He hugged her from behind.

"I would love that, but who's going to watch the kids."

"Damn it!"

"If you can get them for a nap before I'm done, you can join me."

"Deal." He ran after Katie. "Katie bug, where are you? Where's daddy's little girl."

The toddler came running and tumbling to her dad. She looked to them and smiled. She headed upstairs to the bathroom. She would miss the White House, but she had a feeling she would like this better. Her career was still very important and she planned to run for office, but she had decided on enjoying these moments she had with her family. She looked over to the clock. It's Katie's naptime, so it shouldn't take long for her to fall asleep. She purposely took longer in the bath.

P.s: That's it. Thoughts.

I'll probably write a Drellie one shot soon because I'm so in love with them, so if you're interested keep an eye out ;)


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